National Conference-Congress Alliance Outshines BJP in J&K; Saffron Party Holds Strong in Jammu Region
BJP Fails to Make Kashmir Inroads Despite Record Wins in Jammu Region Assembly Elections
Jammu, Oct 8 : In the recently concluded Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) showcased its best-ever performance, securing 29 seats and retaining its dominance in the Jammu region. This election, the first since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, marks a significant moment in the Union Territory’s political landscape. The BJP’s current tally surpasses its previous record of 25 seats set during the 2014 elections, solidifying its stronghold in its traditional bastions.
Despite this success, the BJP faced notable setbacks. One of the most significant was the defeat of its Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory president, Ravinder Raina, who lost the Nowshera constituency to Surinder Choudhary of the National Conference (NC) by a margin of 7,819 votes. Additionally, the BJP was unable to secure any seats in the Kashmir Valley, with many of its candidates losing their security deposits due to low vote shares.
The National Conference (NC) and Congress alliance emerged as the largest bloc, crossing the halfway mark with 48 seats. The NC claimed the lion’s share with 42 seats, while Congress secured six. The BJP, which fielded 62 candidates, focused its campaign primarily on the Jammu region. However, it struggled to make inroads in the Pir Panjal areas of Rajouri and Poonch. The party’s attempts to appeal to Gujjar and Pahari communities by fielding prominent figures, including former ministers Choudhary Zulfikar Ali (Budhal) and Syed Mushtaq Bukhari (Surankote), ended unsuccessfully. Both candidates lost by substantial margins, with Ali defeated by 18,908 votes and Bukhari by 10,428 votes. Notably, Bukhari, aged 75, passed away shortly after the election on October 2.
Apart from these defeats, the BJP saw four other former legislators, including Raina, lose their seats. Nevertheless, the party managed to retain 12 former legislators, including seven ex-ministers. The rest of the BJP’s victorious candidates are fresh faces, including a former police officer, a university professor, and a retired bureaucrat. Among them is a lone woman candidate, Shagun Parihar, whose family faced a tragic terror attack in 2018. She won the Kishtwar constituency, narrowly defeating former NC minister Sajjad Kitchloo by just 521 votes after a closely fought contest.
Prominent BJP winners include former ministers such as Sham Lal Sharma, Surjeet Singh Slathia (Samba), Pawan Kumar Gupta (Udhampur West), Devender Kumar Manyal (Ramgarh), Rajiv Jasrotia (Jasrota), Shakti Raj Parihar (Doda West), Chander Parkash (Vijaypur), and Sunil Sharma (Paddar-Nagseni). Other successful candidates include former MLAs Devender Singh Rana (Nagrota), Kuldeep Raj Dubey (Reasi), Daleep Singh (Bhaderwah), Baldev Raj Sharma (Shri Mata Vaishno Devi), and Ranbir Singh Pathania (Udhampur East).
Noteworthy performances by BJP candidates include Devender Singh Rana’s victory in Nagrota by a margin of 30,472 votes against NC’s Joginder Singh, and Slathia’s triumph in Samba by 30,309 votes. Two-time MLA Balwant Singh Mankotia also secured a win in the Chenani segment, defeating his cousin and National Panthers Party leader Harsh Dev Singh by 15,611 votes.
In other significant results, Darshan Kumar of the BJP defeated veteran Congress leader Choudhary Lal Singh by 16,034 votes in the Basohli constituency, while Garu Ram, a two-time MLA, won the Suchetgarh segment by 11,141 votes. Arvind Gupta and Satish Kumar Sharma claimed victories in the Jammu West and Billawar segments, with winning margins of 22,127 and 21,388 votes, respectively.
Other BJP victors included former SSP Mohan Lal from Akhnoor with a margin of 24,679 votes, former agriculture director Bharat Bhushan from Kathua with 12,117 votes, and Sunil Bhardwaj from Ramnagar, who secured a victory by 9,306 votes.
This election highlights the BJP’s growing influence and strategic strength in the Jammu region, while also underscoring the challenges it faces in gaining traction in the Kashmir Valley and Pir Panjal areas. The party’s performance reflects both its resilience and the evolving political dynamics of the region, as the Union Territory transitions towards a more democratically representative governance structure post-Article 370.
